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Cut It Out, Journey Soundtrack. You’re Making Me Embarrass Myself
Argh! Cut it out, Journey soundtrack! I’m trying to look cool here, and you keep giving me goosebumps and making me stare wistfully into the middle distance! For a nice relaxing bit of listening at the start of tonight’s Kotaku Melodic, I thought I’d share one of my favorite of composer Austin Wintory’s pieces from…
By Kirk Hamilton Published March 22, 2012 -
Mass Effect 3‘s Musical Secret
I finished Mass Effect 3 last weekend. It was a real rollercoaster ride, especially the back half—stuff sure does get intense in there, doesn’t it? Don’t worry, I won’t post any spoilers here, nor will I talk about the much–discussed ending The music of Mass Effect packed more of an emotional wallop than I was…
By Kirk Hamilton Published March 22, 2012 -
Kotaku Melodic Starts Here
And now begins Kotaku Melodic, your weekly date with the world of music, video games, and video game music. Grab your headphones and turn up your speakers, we’ve got some good stuff for you to listen to today! Don’t forget to tip your waiter or waitress.
By Kirk Hamilton Published March 22, 2012 -
Draw Something Is Drawing Huge Piles of Money
I only started playing OMGPOP’s Draw Something a couple days ago. I already can’t stop playing. It’s irresistible—I’m playing games with damn near everyone I know on Facebook; people I never play games with, not even Words With Friends So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the game is raking in money. Particularly not…
By Kirk Hamilton Published March 22, 2012 -
Peter Molydeux Game Jam Expands to Germany, Portugal, Vegas and Beyond
What would Molydeux? In about a week and a half, we’re going to find out. That question, of course, is the name of the coming international game jam that will give game developers in locations around the world 48 hours to break into teams and come up with games based on the wacky game design…
By Kirk Hamilton Published March 21, 2012 -
Nvidia’s New Video Card Leaks, Looks Mighty
This video is almost certainly the launch video for Nvidia’s new GPU, the GeForce GTX680, leaked ahead of schedule. In the video, Nvidia’s VP of corporate marketing Ujesh Desai walks us through the new features of the superpowered GPU, focusing on a new feature called “GPU Boost,” which takes unused power and reroutes it to…
By Kirk Hamilton Published March 21, 2012 -
All Of The Things Anyone Wrote about Uncharted 2
Over at the fabulous video game criticism archive Critical Distance, they’ve run their first “Critical Compilation” in a while, this one written by Johnny Kilhefner and dedicated to all of the best critical writing about Naughty Dog’s Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. These compilations are always smart and interesting, weaving the arguments put forth by a…
By Kirk Hamilton Published March 17, 2012 -
CultureTotal Recall
I Have a Hard Time Believing This Duke Nukem 3D Map Was Drawn From Memory, But Okay
We’ve written about Mapstalgia a couple times before. On the tumblr, people submit maps of classic games that they’ve drawn from memory. This map of the Red Light District from Duke Nukem 3D, strains the whole “from memory” aspect of things, but it’s still impressive. (You can view the full version by expanding the image…
By Kirk Hamilton Published March 16, 2012 -
CultureTotal RecallBioWare’s Least Awkward Love Scene
But when it comes time to seal the romantic deal in a BioWare game, do things really need to be so awkward? Because damn, things have gotten weird. As Tom Bissell puts it in his Grantland critique of the game—”In fact, could we, as gamers, maybe politely band together to convince BioWare to can the…
By Kirk Hamilton Published March 16, 2012 -
You Wouldn’t Like Me When I’m Angry
Greetings, Kotaku readers. Welcome to your Friday night open thread. You’ve survived another week! And good for you. It’s rainy and miserable in San Francisco, but it’s sort of okay. All the better for a weekend playing a ton of Mass Effect 3 Here, gathered from the internet, are some things for you to read:…
By Kirk Hamilton Published March 16, 2012 -
The Witcher 2‘s Xbox Enhancements Include a New Euphemism For Sex
Perhaps you have heard that The Witcher 2 is really good? Because you know what, it really is! And even better, the version that’s coming out for the 360 is still very much the same game that PC gamers fell in love with last year. The trailer above breaks down all of the updates and…
By Kirk Hamilton Published March 16, 2012 -
Dyad is Part Mind-Bending Racer, Part Soaring Video Game Drug-Trip
At the end of the Game Developers Conference, everyone is usually exhausted. I sure was—it had been five long days of standing and walking, of typing and recording and listening, of engaging in long, heated conversations about video games. Also long, heated conversations about Buffy, which seemed to be the most popular non-game subject for…
By Kirk Hamilton Published March 16, 2012 -
Peter Molydeux Game Jam Expands to Cities Around the Globe
“What Would Molydeux?”, the cheekily titled game jam dedicated to the weird and occasionally brilliant ideas of the twitter persona Peter Molydeux, continues to grow. What started as a goof on twitter quickly became a San Francisco event, which expanded to New York and the UK and possibly even convinced the real Peter Molyneux to…
By Kirk Hamilton Published March 16, 2012 -
Abed Nadir Knows What Time It Is
Hey there, Kotaku and welcome to Thursday night’s open thread. Did you enjoy tonight’s Kotaku Melodic? I hope so. I’m having a really good time putting those together each Thursday. Here, taken from around the internet, are some things you might want to talk about. James Brown… the Japanese version – Man, the drummer in…
By Kirk Hamilton Published March 15, 2012 -
Portal 2 Goes Techno
Valve’s Portal 2 was easily one of the most musically enjoyable games of 2011. Not just for its soundtrack, but for the awesome ways that it implemented music into the background of its levels. Youthful electronic musician BonJob agrees, putting together a very cool techno joint that incorporates sound effects from Portal 2 over a…
By Kirk Hamilton Published March 15, 2012 -
Sound Shapes is the Vita Game I Want Most
I have grown to really like my PlayStation Vita. That’s not to say I didn’t like it when I first started using it, but over the last couple of weeks, my respect for the system has grown into a real fondness. With that said, the system hasn’t really had a game that feels “Must Have”…
By Kirk Hamilton Published March 15, 2012 -
You May Never Have Heard of the Braid Creator’s Favorite Band
I hadn’t, anyway. Jonathan Blow, the creator of Braid and the upcoming puzzle-symphony The Witness, is a very cool dude. Chatting with him last week, I had this realization about what he was doing with his upcoming game—the way that his carefully crafted puzzles locked together like the motives and themes of a symphony. So,…
By Kirk Hamilton Published March 15, 2012 -
Jonathan Blow’s The Witness is an Exercise in Symphonic Game Design
A symphony is a long-form composition, a collection of musical ideas tied together by shared themes and motifs. The composer weaves melodies and harmonies over the span of several movements, knitting them into a sprawling, cohesive whole. That vision is then realized by an orchestra, led by a conductor. In a lot of ways, Jonathan…
By Kirk Hamilton Published March 15, 2012 -
All The Rad Mega Man X Remixes You Will Ever Need For The Rest Of Your Life
The generous and good-spirited people over at OverClock ReMix have released another remix collection, and it’s a whopper—a 4-disc set of tunes from Mega Man X titled Maverick Rising. I’ve always enjoyed their work, most recently this great baroque-style duet from Mega Man 9, so this should be a real treat. You can download the…
By Kirk Hamilton Published March 15, 2012
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